Bucko 42

The legendary Wilfred “Bucko” McDonald excelled in both lacrosse and hockey during the 1930’s and 40’s. He was a member of a Mann Cup championship team with the 1931 Brampton Excelsiors (the last field Mann Cup title) and also won Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings in 1936 and 1937 and one with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942.

McDonald possessed one of the hardest shots in lacrosse and would be inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a box player. In addition, he became a Member of Parliament and would even be credited for first turning a young Bobby Orr into a defenseman when he coached the future super-star in peewee and bantam.

But in the summer of ‘42, "Bucko" was in military training at Camp Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake) when he agreed to become a member of the St. Catharines Athletics. This old nemesis of the A’s was now in double-blue "toggery" and that would be something for the fans at the Haig Bowl to get excited about.

Now if they only could keep him there. A small bit of trivia, and a piece of St. Catharines Athletics history.

Whether the famous “Bucko” McDonald will fit into the scoring picture with needed tallies is something that only time will tell, but the husky sniper from Sundridge who topped the senior O. L. A. list for two straight seasons should add plenty of color to the double blues. Blessed with a wizard eye for picking impossible corners and angles, the big defenceman of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey champions will make his 1942 senior boxla debut with the Athletics here tonight against the Etobicoke Indians and the Mann Cuppers will likely require to be in their finest racing fettle to offset the bursts of speed of the Toronto suburbanites of Murray Scruton and Reg Hamilton.

Athletics are a bit rankled – as are their hundreds of loyal backers – that the twin blue champs are reposing in the Millar–Dopp loop basement and Coach Billy Wilson intends to do something about that smartly. A’s and Hamilton Tigers are tail-end occupants but hopes are bright that the various past losses by one-goal margins are a thing of history now and the Athletics will shoot toward the top. Etobicoke is packed with a flock of youthful speedsters and balanced by experience veterans and with the colorful Jack Gair, the leading scorer of the O. L. A. as a standout, will be very tough to beat.

They nosed the A’s out 10 – 9 in their last brush at the Sunnyside Bowl and were shorthanded then. With the three Gairs, Joe Murphy, Campbell, Henson, Hayes, Gillespie, Haney, Harrison, Thompson, Hartley, Gilkinson, Ballagh and Graham, the Cokers might make it a repeat win over the Mann Cup champs right in the Haig Bowl. It should be a tidy struggle from gong to gong and is prelimmed by the Tecs and C. Y. O.’s in a city midget game that starts at 7 p.m. with the big tussle going at 9 sharp.

Murray Scruton and his red-jacketed Etobicoke Indians dropped into the Haig Bowl here last night, as chipper, cocky and full of fight as a team could be. When the St. Kitts Athletics finished the evening with them, the Toronto suburbanites were fairly well humbled by a six-goal trouncing at 14 – 8. Fresh from Camp Niagara, the Mann Cuppers stepped high, wide and handsome, with Coach Billy Wilson setting the pace for them in box strides and while he gunned only two goals, his presence and steady influence helped the blue cause along. Fandom’s eyes fashioned on big, bouncing Bucko McDonald, the defence-buffer of Hap Day’s champion Leafs puck-sters and the wizard eye for sniping prowess was right on. McDonald is colorful, takes a pass under his checks nose and is uncanny in picking vacancies, as Athletics use to learn to their sorrow. Last night he did not begin to click until midway in the third period, when he uncorked a bullet drive from fully 60 feet out that Red Creighton never lamped. In 2:23 he soloed for a second gunnery goal ticket from 50 feet out and again Creighton failed to glimpse the white pellet until the red light flashed.

Those two valuable tallies more or less settled the hash for the Cokers as they boosted the A’s lead to 10 to 5. The A’s led 3 – 2 in the opener and by 5 – 4 at the half, and the score was a fit indication of the tightness of the play and checking. Indians had plenty of legs, led by Jack Gair and Gillespie with the Creighton family also prominent and as full of scrappiness as ever. Rugged Red in the hemp got himself a penalty halfway through the third when he roared out of his tent to crush Bucko into the end boards with a deft knee. Red Hartley subbed for him and Norm Gair, Gilkinson and McWhinnie did the ragging in good style to keep the goal clear, but earned a face-off for stalling.

When the big third chapter rolled around, the Athletics began to function in typical champion style. Their passing was much improved, snap combination was on and Joe Cheevers was a veritable hawk on loose rubber . . . through the whole game for that matter, topping all hands with 2 goals and 3 assists.

Wilson sniped the opener in jig-time, with Cheevers making a smart intercept on an Indian dash and raced in to bulge the rigging. Jack Gair hooked McMahon, but the A’s did not make it good and Jack Gair fed Gillespie a flicker pass that beat Whittaker, with Merv Haney and Em Creighton tying it up at 2 – 2.

The Cheevers–Teather duo set the A’s up for the third with 2:30 to go and Coles charged Vipond in the dying seconds to sit out the start of the second. The teams matched goals in the second, the A’s getting their’s first by Morton, then McWhinnie, followed by Teather and Campbell, the last by an odd man. Three quickies in the third from Madsen, Teather and McMahon ran the A’s lead to 8 – 4 before Farell potted his first of the night. Then came the twin lightning strokes from Bucko McDonald, interspersed by a tangle from Coles and Vipond who “got the jug and lashes” – majors and the rest of the game. Farrell charged Mackie and Creighton boarded McDonald to put the Cokers 3 to 1 short. The Indians ragged the rubber but did not advance it much, until Mackie was gated for slashing Gilkinson, to make the cop show 3 to 2 shy. An odd man again foiled Whittaker as Haney did the trick, but Wilson raced in, faked a pass and beat the Pete native cold.

It was ten minutes of the final before a tally was registered as Farrell, Gus Madsen and then Farrell again got the cooler for penalties. The rookie line of the A’s then came on and Vern Whitely and Bob Melville twirled in a pair of super goals that ran the count to 13 – 6 for the Saints. With less than four minutes left, the Mann Cuppers eased off slightly and Jack Gair set up a pair for Haney and Gillespie in 20 seconds that cut the margin back to 13 – 8, with the veteran pair of McMahon and Cheevers accounting for the closing counter with only 1:15 left to play and all the A’s had to do was retain possession, though the Indians had one try that Whittaker handled faultlessly.

Athletics have a whole week to tune up for their next home stand, which brings the hybrid Mimico-Brampton Combines here next Friday night with the A’s return at Brampton next Monday evening. The win here was enough to put the A’s a step up the ladder and into a loop tie with the Tigers.

Etobicoke Indians – Goal, “Red” Creighton; defence, Jerry Creighton, Haney; rover, J. Gair; center, Gillespie; wings, Campbell, McWhinnie; subs., Gilkinson, Em Creighton, Hartley, L. Vipond, N. Gair, Farrell.

St. Catharines Athletics – Goal, Whittaker; defence, Madsen, Wilson; rover, McMahon; center, Cheevers; wings, Morton, Teather; subs., Garriock, Wright, Mackie, Whitely, Melville, McDonald, Coles.

First Period
St.C Wilson (Morton)	1:55
St.C Cheevers	3:00
Etob Gillespie (J. Gair)	3:25
Etob Em Creighton (Haney)	11:00
St.C Cheevers (Teather)	12:35
Penalties - J. Gair, Coles.
Second Period
St.C Morton (McMahon)	2:45
Etob McWhinnie (N. Gair)	6:25
St.C Teather	9:30
Etob Campbell (J. Gair, Gillespie)	9:50
No penalties
Third Period
St.C Madsen	0:21
St.C Teather (Cheevers)	2:07
St.C McMahon (Cheevers)	4:05
Etob Farrell (Gilkinson)	4:15
St.C McDonald (Wright)	4:45
St.C McDonald	7:08
Etob Haney (Em Creighton)	9:38
St.C Wilson	13:21
Penalties - Coles (major and match), Vipond (major and match), Farrell, Red Creighton, Mackie.
Fourth Period
St.C Whitely (Melville)	10:12
St.C Melville	11:05
Etob Haney (J. Gair)	12:20
Etob Gillespie (J. Gair)	12:40
St.C McMahon (Cheevers)	13:45
Penalties - Farrell 2, Madsen.

The best paying lacrosse turnout of the season greeted the Athletics here last night, nearly 1,200 cash customers. Maybe some of them came to see Bucko McDonald and if so, they were not one whit disappointed. No doubt of it, the hefty sniper and dead-eye-dick is colorful. He grinningly admitted that it was the first time in three seasons he had held a stick in his capable hands, but the old strategy is still there in abundance. His twin zipping goals were positively sensational.

Mgr. Murray Scruton of the Indians gave Bucko quite a "ride" before the game and even up to halftime. He pinned the washed up sign on the Sundridge native and had him ticketed for Philly inside of one month. Strangely enough, after the bouncing Leaf zoomed in the duo that Creighton never glimpsed, Boss Scruton was a sphinx. Bucko is not in shape, but he pivots on a dime, takes a pass under an enemy nose and his ability to get the shot away like a bullet is still the wonder of lacrosse.

His twin goals, ninth and tenth, just doubled the score on the Indians and were welcome. The other bright spot was that the A's combination was functioning better, snap passes were true and sniping was pretty much on. True enough that some of the veteran A's are lazy and not fielding loose balls, but not foxy Joe Cheevers, who was hawk-eye himself last night. Frankly, the score should have been past 20 instead of 14.

Secy. Jay MacDonald notified Mgr. Pete Ella at Brampton that the A's would only field seven men at the most for Saturday night's game in the Rose Bowl. Camp Niagara is the reason and if the M-B Combines don't want the Mann Cuppers to appear with a half-way roster and try to entertain boxla fans that way, it is quite all right with the A's. However, if the Combines insist on the Saints appearance, the champs will fill the date since they will not default the issue even though it will be a mere shadow tilt.

‘Tis not expected that bouncing Bucko McDonald will be with the boys tonight. His military training period over, the Leafs’ defence star returned to Orillia and his insurance business over the weekend, but should be available for the next tilt. Bucko adds a wealth of color to any team and is one of the very few cogs that can fit into the Athletics’ machine and hold up his end on stick-wizardry and passing.

Orders are orders and the higher-up they come, the more drastic they are liable to be. Though it was not officially stated, President Charlie Cornelius and his colleagues of the St. Catharines Athletics can readily read between the lines. Bucko McDonald notified the Mann Cuppers that he wouldn’t be available for any more games with them this season. He is “afraid he might injure one of his legs in the O. L. A. stretch drive and that would handicap him from hockey this winter.” So that’s that and his two goals will be his contribution towards lacrosse for the 1942 season.

The appointment of Bucko McDonald as coach of the Montreal entry in the National Lacrosse Association will bring back a few nostalgic recollections to sports followers who watched senior lacrosse here in the 1930's and 1940's. In fact those memories appeared in living color over the weekend when McDonald made a surprise visit to the Old Tyme Sportsmen Association reunion at the Merritton Community Centre.

We use the term "surprise" advisedly because Bucko had actually been invited by his former opponent Joe Cheevers a couple of years ago. McDonald apparently had a better memory than Cheevers. Joe had completely forgotten issuing the invitation but

Bucko had it written down in his little black book and appeared right on schedule.

It is perhaps not generally known that McDonald, before he became prominent in lacrosse and hockey (and later in politics) played one full season of field lacrosse in St. Catharines as a goaltender. He checked in here from Fergus in 1929 and has retained a long-standing friendship with his teammate of that season, Marty Cahill. Not only did he not return here but he gave up goaltending and switched to an offensive position and within a couple of years was one of the outstanding forwards in box lacrosse.

We're certain that a great many goalies wished fervently that Bucko had not given up his goaltending aspirations. The one-time member of the goaltending union soon became their number one nemesis. With the possible exception of Roy Morton, no man in the senior game at that time had a harder shot. He played with the Brampton team which won the Mann Cup in the early 1930's, later was with Guelph but gained his greatest fame with the Orillia Terriers.

A big bear of a man who gave the appearance of being 40 to 50 pounds overweight, McDonald was remarkably light of his feet. He was an absolute master at taking passes when in scoring position and few if any players of his era could take the ball and release it as quickly. His fluid catch-and-throw was one of the greatest spectacles we've ever seen in the game.

Bucko joined the Terriers in 1938, the year after Orillia won its last Canadian championship and the season that St. Catharines started a string of four consecutive Ontario titles which resulted in three Mann Cup championships. Without doubt he was the most colorful of the visiting players in those seasons and whenever Orillia played at the Haig Bowl you could be sure the place would be packed to its 4,000 capacity.

McDonald was a little chagrined here Saturday that his age had been listed at 62 when the announcement was made that he was going to take over as coach in Montreal. "I'm getting older," said the now gray-haired and much slimmer McDonald. "But I'm not really that old. Put me down as 56 if you please."

It was really through lacrosse that McDonald earned an even greater name - and certainly more money - in hockey. Detroit Red Wings picked him up after hearing reports of his lacrosse prowess and while he was more clumsy on skates than in lacrosse shoes, he was good enough to earn a second all-star berth in 1942 after being traded to Toronto by the Wings. He played a large part that season in bringing the Stanley Cup to Maple Leaf Gardens for the first time in a decade, then retired to Sundridge, entered politics and spent several years as the representative of that area in Ottawa.

How well Bucko will do as a lacrosse coach remains to be seen but the Montreal team, shy on talent with the exception of goaltender Bob McCready and Ron Roy who was recently acquired from Toronto, is about 30 years too late in signing him to a contract. Bucko McDonald would have helped them much more as a player.

Special thanks to Bob Luey for the picture of "Bucko" in the uniform of the 1932 Toronto Maple Leafs of the International Professional Lacrosse League.

The name Wilfred (Bucko) McDonald won’t bring instant recognition from the younger set or some in their middle years. However Bucko’s death last weekend at age 79 will bring back vivid memories for older hockey and lacrosse fans.

Nationally he was better-known as a NHL defenseman spending 11 seasons and winning three Stanley Cup rings – with Detroit in 1936 and 1937 and Toronto in 1942. A big barrel-chested man with limited skating mobility, he still managed to hand out the most crushing body-checks of his era, including what is believed to be an NHL record of knocking down 36 opposing forwards in a 1936 playoff game while with Detroit against Montreal Maroons. He had plenty of time as the game was the longest ever played in the NHL – a 0-0 tie until Mud Bruneteau scored for the Wings in the sixth overtime.

And despite not playing anything but pond hockey until his early 20’s, he made the second NHL all-star team in the ’42 Leafs championship season. That was the last year of the seven-team NHL when only the world’s top 28 defenders were major leaguers.

As a youngster I heard Bucko’s NHL exploits via Foster Hewitt on radio and watched him in person perform boxla miracles at Haig Bowl as Orillia Terriers’ player-coach. There is no question he was better in lacrosse than hockey, a fact he freely admitted when I got to know him the past few years at NHL Oldtimers reunions in Markham.

What is not generally known is that he started his sports career in St. Catharines in 1930. “All I’d done at home (Sundridge) was toss a lacrosse ball around and St. Catharines was so well known in the sport, I went down there to see what it was all about,” he told me. “It was still field lacrosse in those days and I wasn’t good enough as a forward, so they stuck me in goal.” But as happened later in hockey, he learned quickly.

By 1932-33 he was playing in the short-lived professional box lacrosse league for the Toronto Maple Leafs who had several hockey Leafs in the lineup. “They told me I should try hockey, so I learned to skate and by 1934 I couldn’t believe I was in the NHL with Detroit.”

At the time a professional in any sport couldn’t play amateur lacrosse. It wasn’t until 1938 that the rules were relaxed and he returned to his favorite pastime in Orillia, which had won the Mann Cup the previous three seasons. However, he never got into a national final as the Athletics eliminated their archrivals the next four straight years.

McDonald only scored 41 goals in 511 NHL games but was a prolific lacrosse marksman with 70 in 1938 alone, third behind Roy Morton (73) of the A’s and Bill Isaacs (80) of Hamilton in a 24-game schedule. For a heavy-set athlete, he moved well but his shot was what terrorized goaltenders.

“Bucko had as hard a shot as I’ve ever seen,” said hall-of-famer Morton who was the Athletics’ top gun. He was a good, clean player, a real congenial guy. He could check too. But if you got behind him there was never a cheap shot from behind, just a little grin.”

A’s defenseman Frank Madsen, who should be in the hall of fame beside McDonald, Morton and all the other greats, said he was rugged and had a great shot, but it was the fluid way he could catch and throw the ball in one motion which caught goalies off guard.

Normie MacDonald, who was 129 pounds when he played senior in Fergus, said checking the 225 pounder was like trying to stop a bulldozer. The most effective in halting Bucko was the late Winston (Red) Millar who was his shadow, sticking to him like glue and often waiting at the Orillia bench for him to return to the action.

After leaving the NHL, McDonald led Sundridge to two intermediate hockey titles and for 12 years was an Ottawa MP for Muskoka-Penetang.

But his proudest accomplishment was being Bobby Orr’s first minor hockey coach in Parry Sound. “Greatest defenseman the game has ever known,” he said on Hockey Night in Canada.

No one will dispute that statement or that Bucko McDonald was one of the most colorful athletes in Canadian history.